Don’t ask or tell; repeal.

Editorial: An Air Force colonel argues in an official military magazine that it’s time to end the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy for gays in the military. He’s right.

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t’s been 16 years since President Bill Clinton, in a not atypical awkward and impractical attempt at political compromise, declared that the U.S. policy on accommodating gay and lesbians serving in the military would be to pretend there weren’t any.

Sixteen years, that is, and 12,500 servicemen and servicewomen drummed out of the armed forces. So much for “Don’t ask, don’t tell.’’

The law requiring that gays in the military keep their sexual orientation secret — with its wink and nod to the reality that there of course were many of them — has been roundly criticized from the start. Now, though, should come the fatal strike. An official military publication has made an especially powerful case for its repeal.

Thousands of gay men and women are being compelled to lead fundamentally dishonest lives that undermine the integrity and uniformity that are so critical to the military’s mission. So argues Air Force Col. Om Prakash in the upcoming issue of Joint Force Quarterly (http://tinyurl.com/ydjxu3u).

The article, which was reviewed by the office of Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, rejects the frequent argument that having openly gay troops in the ranks will hurt combat readiness or harm unit cohesion.

“There is no scientific evidence to support the claim that unit cohesion will be negatively affected if homosexuals serve openly,” Colonel Prakash writes, after months of study of the issue at the National Defense University. “It is not time for the administration to re-examine the issue; rather it is time for the administration to examine how to implement the repeal of the ban.”

Such a repeal wouldn’t be easy, Colonel Prakash writes. There would be resistance and disruptions, he acknowledges, but nothing the military couldn’t quickly overcome.

He notes the success that other nations, including Australia, Israel, the United Kingdom and Canada, have had in allowing gays to serve in the military without the charade of a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

One wonders what Colonel Prakash’s commander in chief will make of his recommendation. Repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” is one more example of the differences, perhaps inevitable ones, that have emerged between Barack Obama’s presidency so far and his campaign for it. Like Mr. Clinton before him, Mr. Obama might well prefer to avoid a pitched battle with those who continue to oppose allowing gays to serve in the military.

He should consider his options carefully, though. Can a nation still fighting two wars, and perhaps even escalating one of them, afford to reject a change in policy that would strengthen its armed forces?